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TravelMole Interview: Daragh O’Reilly, UK Passenger Manager, Irish Ferries
The Irish Ferries manager tells TravelMole he is confident that the ferry operator can see off the competition from no-frills airlines.
According to Mr O’Reilly, while passenger numbers were down 0.6% on the Irish Sea, car traffic actually increased by 2.1% over the five month-period to the end of May 2003. He told TravelMole: “Therefore while we acknowledge that low cost airlines are our biggest competitor at the moment, I am also confident that the travelling public are aware of the benefits of travelling by sea.”
Mr O’Reilly was reacting to figures published by TravelMole earlier this month that suggest the UK ferry market is losing out to competition from no-frills flights.
According to IRN Research, which compiles ferry statistics on a monthly basis for FerryStat, in the first five months of 2003, the number of UK ferry passengers travelling to the continent was down 8% from the same period last year to under 7.5 million. The research did find, however, that routes between the UK and Republic of Ireland were down less significantly, by 0.6% to 1.2 million in the same period.
Mr O’Reilly says people favour travelling by ferry because it offers a better experience, with “no angry airport scenes”, and benefits the customer by enabling them to take charge of their own car. He added that Irish Ferries has customer-friendly booking structures, so customers you can amend their booking at any point.
In an effort to improve customer service, Irish Ferries has recently introduced a text messaging service that alerts customers travelling from the UK to Ireland of any service disruptions. The service informs passengers about delays due to incidents such as high winds, and notifies them if they need to leave home early due to traffic delays en route to the ferry port.
Mr O’Reilly said: “All in all, holidaymakers who travel to Ireland know that travelling by sea is the best deal. According to a recent survey by the Irish National Tourism Development Authority, car traffic on Irish Sea routes increased by 26% in April.”
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